I-933 poll pushes eminent domain

The Initiative 933 campaign has a poll in the field, the kinda-sorta pushy kind that’s probably intended to help them refine their message. How can I be so sure? I got robo-polled this evening.

The poll starts off with the usual questions: Bush approval, gender, age, income, party and ideological self-identification. How likely are you to vote? Do you plan to vote for Maria Cantwell or Mike McGavick? That kind of stuff.

And then it started focusing on I-933. The recording described the initiative pretty much the way it’s described in the ballot title, while stating that opponents argue it would hamper government’s ability to regulate property and do proper planning. Do you plan to vote yes or no? I punched in no.

Then the questions started getting a little curious. Do you think local governments are operated well, or controlled by special interests who are in it only for the money? Hmm. I had to think about that one. I guess it depends on the local government, but I didn’t want to give them the answer they wanted, so I punched in no.

Are you familiar with the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision that says governments can take away property by eminent domain for use by commercial developers? Do you agree with the decision? If you knew that I-933 was intended to address Kelo, would you be more or less likely to vote for it?

Well clearly, you can see where the I-933 campaign is going. They are testing a message that focuses on eminent domain, even though they most certainly know that I-933 has absolutely nothing to do with eminent domain. Nothing. Nothing at all.

They are preparing to lie to voters.

So when the I-933 campaign starts inundating voters with broadcast ads and mailers citing Kelo and pushing the issue of eminent domain, I expect my friends in the press to come down on them like a ton bricks, for now you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the I-933 campaign didn’t just accidentally get it wrong. They polled on this lie. They tested and refined it. And when they run on this lie they will be running without a shred of regard for the truth.

The irony of the Kelo frame is that it’s not only based on a lie, it’s intended to entirely flip the debate on its head, for I-933 was written and financed by the same private developers and wealthy special interests who the Kelo frame is intended to demonize.

But then, that’s exactly the kind of cynical, dishonest campaign we’ve come to expect from the building industry.

BAY MINETTE – A 32-year-old Baldwin County man, charged with raping a 5-year-old girl, said he knew he was HIV positive at the time, according to authorities.

Baldwin County sheriff’s officers said the man, tentatively identified as Julio Cesar Cruz Martinez, was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree rape, sexual abuse and sodomy. He had no valid identification and is believed to be a Mexican national who has lived in the U.S. illegally for several years, said sheriff’s Sgt. Tony Nolfe.

The 5-year-old and her mother, who are believed to be Hurricane Katrina evacuees from New Orleans, were living with Martinez in the Marlow community, Nolfe said. […..Anoter illegal [Democrat-to-be] just doing the felonies that welfare Democrats are too lazy to do! Multiply this problem by 20 million, and you have the biggest problem facing America] ………………………………….The bottom line: Will the illegal felon be able to vote Democrat in NOV? This is the question that must be “axed”!!

As I said before. The righties have gone past even worrying about whether or not there is one single fact in any of their arguments that’s true. They’ll tie the spinach contamination to I933 if they think they can sell it.

Remember, that one third of the people they are talking to are the Bible-thumpin, confederate flag wavin, inbred chickenhawks who’ll believe anything the GOP says. So they get 33% just due to republican inbreeding. That means they only have to convince 18% of the voters beyond that to sell a lie. And 18% seems to be easy for them in today’s busy world. We have to just keep shining the light on their lies and hope all pay attention.

Why did you change your name from Left Turdball? You write just like him – in-bred chickenhawks is another example. Too bad your father wasn’t packing a full load. You are a prime example for donkoinfanticide support.

Oh come on. I-933 is paid for by New York real estate developer Howard Rich. We all know that the Farm Bureau is shilling for developers and builders, and that the first organizing meeting shortly after the passage of Measure 37 was called by the BIAW.

So don’t give me that Farm Bureau crap. I-933 would destroy the family farm.

Maybe oure resident economic expert, Mark the Welshing Reddick, can explain why farmers who get paid by taxpayers to not grow crops can’t make a living in the free market unless they sell their land to developers for housing?

I had a push poll on I933 a couple of months ago. It was a live person, however, and not automated. It started pretty much like the one you had, but pretty soon it was asking questions like “If you knew I933 would help your grandmother from losing her home, would you be more or less likely to vote for it?” Seriously, they framed questions that blatantly. My grandmothers dead, and I told them that. I also finally just stopped the poll — told the woman at the other end that I wasn’t going to answer these questions. She got all defensive “We’re just trying to find out what you think.” I replied with something along the line of “No, you’re not. You’re trying to change my mind. What if you found out that somebody running for office was a mass murder? Would you be more or less likey to vote for them? The question is ridiculous, and only designed to cast doubt on how I look at that person. That’s exactly what you’re doing. This conversation is over.” I hung up.

Puddybutt died and went to Hell. Satan said, “You haven’t had sex in 10 years, so all you get is a used foreign car.”

Janet S. died and went to Hell. Satan said, “You haven’t had sex since you were 15, so all you get is a riding mower.”

A short time later, Puddybutt and Janet S. collided at an insection. Puddybutt screamed, “Why didn’t you watch where you’re going?!” but Janet was laughing too hard to answer. Puddybutt exclaimed, “What in Hell is so damned funny!!?”

After a while Janet S. answered, “I just saw Mike Webb Sucks go by on a skateboard!”

Why are the wingnuts going crazy? Could it be that the Republican party just keeps going down the drain?

The alienation with Congress is as intense as it has been since 1994, when Republicans swept Democrats out of control after 40 years of dominance in the House. It signals the challenge the Republican Party faces in trying hold on to power in the face of a clear surge of anti-incumbent sentiment.

Two-thirds of respondents said Congress had done less than it typically does during a congressional session. A majority said they could not name a single major accomplishment of this Congress. Just 25 percent of respondents said they approved of the way Congress was doing its job.

The Times/CBS News poll found that President George W. Bush did not improve his own or his party’s standing through his intense campaign of speeches and events marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The speeches were part of an overall strategy to thrust terrorism to the front of the stage in the fall elections.

His job approval rating remains at 37 percent, virtually unchanged from the last Times/CBS News poll, and 55 percent say they approve of the way he is managing the war on terror, again unchanged from August.

But the poll found a slight increase in the percentage of Americans who say they approve of the way Bush has handled the war in Iraq, from 30 percent to 36 percent. It also suggests that after bottoming out this spring, Bush’s approval rating on the economy, foreign policy and terrorism has returned the levels they were a year ago.

Across the board, the poll found marked disenchantment with Congress and signaled the potential gains the Democrats can make if they succeed – as they are trying – to turn this into a referendum on the performance of a Republican-controlled Congress and Bush’s tenure as president. In one striking finding, 78 percent of voters – including 67 percent of Republicans – said most members of Congress had not done a good enough job to deserve reelection and it was time to give a new person a chance.

That is the highest number of voters who said it was “time for new people” since September of 1994.

In the poll, 50 percent of voters said they will support a Democrat in the fall congressional election, compared with 35 percent who said they would support a Republican. That said, the poll found that Democrats continue to struggle to offer a case for control of government to be turned over to them: Only 37 percent said the Democrats have a clear plan for how they would run the country, compared with 47 percent who said the Republicans had offered a clear plan. Historically, overall discontent with Congress or Washington does not signify how someone will vote when they see the familiar name of their member of Congress on the ballot in the voting booth.

In the poll, 53 percent of respondents said they approved of the job their member of Congress was doing. By contrast, 25 percent who said they approved of the job Congress overall is doing.

The poll began Friday, four days after the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and two weeks after the White House began its offensive on security issues. The Times and CBS completed questioning Tuesday night. Presidential addresses often produce shifts in public opinion that tend to be transitory.

The nationwide telephone poll was conducted Friday through Tuesday with 1,131 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Marina Stefan, Megan Thee and Marjorie Connelly contributed reporting for this article. NEW YORK With less than seven weeks to go until the midterm elections, Americans have a distinctly negative view of the Republican-controlled Congress, with overwhelming majorities saying they disapprove of the job it is doing and that its members do not deserve re-election this fall, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The alienation with Congress is as intense as it has been since 1994, when Republicans swept Democrats out of control after 40 years of dominance in the House. It signals the challenge the Republican Party faces in trying hold on to power in the face of a clear surge of anti-incumbent sentiment.

Two-thirds of respondents said Congress had done less than it typically does during a congressional session. A majority said they could not name a single major accomplishment of this Congress. Just 25 percent of respondents said they approved of the way Congress was doing its job.

The Times/CBS News poll found that President George W. Bush did not improve his own or his party’s standing through his intense campaign of speeches and events marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The speeches were part of an overall strategy to thrust terrorism to the front of the stage in the fall elections.

His job approval rating remains at 37 percent, virtually unchanged from the last Times/CBS News poll, and 55 percent say they approve of the way he is managing the war on terror, again unchanged from August.

But the poll found a slight increase in the percentage of Americans who say they approve of the way Bush has handled the war in Iraq, from 30 percent to 36 percent. It also suggests that after bottoming out this spring, Bush’s approval rating on the economy, foreign policy and terrorism has returned the levels they were a year ago.

Across the board, the poll found marked disenchantment with Congress and signaled the potential gains the Democrats can make if they succeed – as they are trying – to turn this into a referendum on the performance of a Republican-controlled Congress and Bush’s tenure as president. In one striking finding, 78 percent of voters – including 67 percent of Republicans – said most members of Congress had not done a good enough job to deserve reelection and it was time to give a new person a chance.

That is the highest number of voters who said it was “time for new people” since September of 1994.

In the poll, 50 percent of voters said they will support a Democrat in the fall congressional election, compared with 35 percent who said they would support a Republican. That said, the poll found that Democrats continue to struggle to offer a case for control of government to be turned over to them: Only 37 percent said the Democrats have a clear plan for how they would run the country, compared with 47 percent who said the Republicans had offered a clear plan. Historically, overall discontent with Congress or Washington does not signify how someone will vote when they see the familiar name of their member of Congress on the ballot in the voting booth.

In the poll, 53 percent of respondents said they approved of the job their member of Congress was doing. By contrast, 25 percent who said they approved of the job Congress overall is doing.

The poll began Friday, four days after the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and two weeks after the White House began its offensive on security issues. The Times and CBS completed questioning Tuesday night. Presidential addresses often produce shifts in public opinion that tend to be transitory.

The nationwide telephone poll was conducted Friday through Tuesday with 1,131 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Marina Stefan, Megan Thee and Marjorie Connelly contributed reporting for this article. NEW YORK With less than seven weeks to go until the midterm elections, Americans have a distinctly negative view of the Republican-controlled Congress, with overwhelming majorities saying they disapprove of the job it is doing and that its members do not deserve re-election this fall, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The alienation with Congress is as intense as it has been since 1994, when Republicans swept Democrats out of control after 40 years of dominance in the House. It signals the challenge the Republican Party faces in trying hold on to power in the face of a clear surge of anti-incumbent sentiment.

Two-thirds of respondents said Congress had done less than it typically does during a congressional session. A majority said they could not name a single major accomplishment of this Congress. Just 25 percent of respondents said they approved of the way Congress was doing its job.

The Times/CBS News poll found that President George W. Bush did not improve his own or his party’s standing through his intense campaign of speeches and events marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The speeches were part of an overall strategy to thrust terrorism to the front of the stage in the fall elections.

His job approval rating remains at 37 percent, virtually unchanged from the last Times/CBS News poll, and 55 percent say they approve of the way he is managing the war on terror, again unchanged from August.

…

Across the board, the poll found marked disenchantment with Congress and signaled the potential gains the Democrats can make if they succeed – as they are trying – to turn this into a referendum on the performance of a Republican-controlled Congress and Bush’s tenure as president. In one striking finding, 78 percent of voters – including 67 percent of Republicans – said most members of Congress had not done a good enough job to deserve reelection and it was time to give a new person a chance.

That is the highest number of voters who said it was “time for new people” since September of 1994.

In the poll, 50 percent of voters said they will support a Democrat in the fall congressional election, compared with 35 percent who said they would support a Republican. That said, the poll found that Democrats continue to struggle to offer a case for control of government to be turned over to them: Only 37 percent said the Democrats have a clear plan for how they would run the country, compared with 47 percent who said the Republicans had offered a clear plan. Historically, overall discontent with Congress or Washington does not signify how someone will vote when they see the familiar name of their member of Congress on the ballot in the voting booth.

In the poll, 53 percent of respondents said they approved of the job their member of Congress was doing. By contrast, 25 percent who said they approved of the job Congress overall is doing.

The poll began Friday, four days after the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and two weeks after the White House began its offensive on security issues. The Times and CBS completed questioning Tuesday night. Presidential addresses often produce shifts in public opinion that tend to be transitory.

The nationwide telephone poll was conducted Friday through Tuesday with 1,131 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Marina Stefan, Megan Thee and Marjorie Connelly contributed reporting for this article. NEW YORK With less than seven weeks to go until the midterm elections, Americans have a distinctly negative view of the Republican-controlled Congress, with overwhelming majorities saying they disapprove of the job it is doing and that its members do not deserve re-election this fall, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The alienation with Congress is as intense as it has been since 1994, when Republicans swept Democrats out of control after 40 years of dominance in the House. It signals the challenge the Republican Party faces in trying hold on to power in the face of a clear surge of anti-incumbent sentiment.

Two-thirds of respondents said Congress had done less than it typically does during a congressional session. A majority said they could not name a single major accomplishment of this Congress. Just 25 percent of respondents said they approved of the way Congress was doing its job.

The Times/CBS News poll found that President George W. Bush did not improve his own or his party’s standing through his intense campaign of speeches and events marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The speeches were part of an overall strategy to thrust terrorism to the front of the stage in the fall elections.

His job approval rating remains at 37 percent, virtually unchanged from the last Times/CBS News poll, and 55 percent say they approve of the way he is managing the war on terror, again unchanged from August.

But the poll found a slight increase in the percentage of Americans who say they approve of the way Bush has handled the war in Iraq, from 30 percent to 36 percent. It also suggests that after bottoming out this spring, Bush’s approval rating on the economy, foreign policy and terrorism has returned the levels they were a year ago.

Across the board, the poll found marked disenchantment with Congress and signaled the potential gains the Democrats can make if they succeed – as they are trying – to turn this into a referendum on the performance of a Republican-controlled Congress and Bush’s tenure as president. In one striking finding, 78 percent of voters – including 67 percent of Republicans – said most members of Congress had not done a good enough job to deserve reelection and it was time to give a new person a chance.

That is the highest number of voters who said it was “time for new people” since September of 1994.

In the poll, 50 percent of voters said they will support a Democrat in the fall congressional election, compared with 35 percent who said they would support a Republican.

Last week, we have a guy on crack (John Craig, were you in DC), drive up to the capital and run through its halls with a gun.

And now this:

Two teenagers Wednesday drove a stolen car onto the U.S. military base that commands much of the war on terror, triggering an investigation into the security breach, police and military officials said.

Just remember, when they say they are protecting your “property rights”, they really mean their “developer rights”. Do in growth management and zoning laws and it means your neighbor can do whatever they want with their property – like raise hogs or start a wrecking lot in the field next door.

I-933 does in community rights and rules. It says it’s everyone for themselves. Sounds to me like they can quickly decrease the value of your property by what they do next door. Think you’ll be compensated for that?

How do we prevent cities, starved for money, from condemning private property so that the property can be sold to private developers? Is it proper for a municipality to sacrifice the private property of others to increase the tax base by selling seized assets to developers, who will turn those assets into condos, strip malls, and shopping centers?

Do we have a reasonable expectation of actually having our homes be our castles, or are we subject to the heavy hand of politicians who do not respect personal and private property?

Your wish is granted. The Washington Constitution already has higher standards than Kelo allows. In Washington you cannot condemn land just to sell to private developers. If you could do that, BIAW would be putting all their money into city counsel races.

On top of that, if you are not happy with how your local municipality is going about their buisness, on any issue, not just land use, you can always vote for new people. That is the ultimate check on the power of government; the consent of the govern.

So, you can see, you already have everything you can ask for, plus a state with one of the highest standards of living in the world. What else could you want?

28 , well you preserve my land and then develop houses on yours for big bucks and my taxes go up to boot . This is a true personal situation ( not you , but in our town ) . Why don’t you spare some of that dough you’re making by your escalating real estate value and pay for the increased ascetics ? Same with the town here , lots going up in value , city gets increased sales tax and real estate transfer fees and all ma and pa get out of it is increased taxes and the joy of paying taxes on your new ascetics . If I-933 is to create billions in liability , just why can’t you see why those billions were stolen or taken from someone . Try this same scenario with your bank account , town needs money and liberates say 65% of your bank account , god knows they can use the money . Same deal here , I payed real money for this land and now it has been taken away , our retirement . There is a land rush occurring , free land for the stealing !! Give us a break .

You seem to have forgotten that those very regulations you are against help increase the value of your property, increasing your equity. Regulations are there to protect and increase value. Without land use laws and regulation, your land would be worth far less than it is worth now. since those regulations protect the standard of living that brings people to this state to buy the land and increase your equity.

And nothing has been stolen or taken. The figure represents pure speculation. The problem is that 933 allows a developer to demand payment for speculation. Sure, my land is in the middle of Walingford, but it would be perfect for an abattoir, so pay me the 2million I could have made if I had built one there. Foolish.

Land is subject to regulations. Always has been, always will be. 933 is nothing more than a welfare program for developers.

In my area, the city of University Place took a perfectly good open space with a terrific view of the sound, and they’re building a public golf course on it. I’m mad about it because I’d rather have a nice, open space with walking trails in it. It’s a beautiful piece of property, and they’re turning it into a golf course that isn’t needed. Plus they’re going to creat a traffic mess on one of the few streets that’s relatively calm now.

This Universtiy Place government is the same cast of clowns that forced to only decent restaurant out of town and destroyed about nine businesses for some pie-in-the-sky “University Place Towne Center” project. It’s still going on and turning into an even bigger boondoggle.

Wrong JDB , I can make the same case for taking your land and your neighbors land , and make you plant and maintain your , i mean , our urban eden . Let’s compromise , lets liberate about 10 of your neighbors backyards and maybe not yours . Afterall if the city takes everything you don’t have cemented up , it will raise your property value . right ??

Fuck you spitball. We’ll keep our money in our town. You hillbillies can piss up a rope for all we care. If your too dumb to know your own good, and go out and lie initiatives onto the ballot that will wreck the quality of life in your own communities, you get exactly what you deserve. And you’ll get no money from us urbane, sophisticated, city liberals.

I’m pretty sure I could fit three more small houses on my lot in Magnolia. And I’m pretty sure most of my neighbors could as well. Even though if every single one of us were to do so, what we’d end up with is one of those Drake Sissley/Conrad Lee slums like you find in Roosevelt, or College Park. Nonetheless, I want the gov’mint to pay me the imaginary, pretend value of those three more houses on my lot as if I were the only one in my area who could build them. Doesn’t that make sense? It’s only fair.

Interesting topic…a few things the Seattleites don’t quite understand. Sure, people in the rural areas can try to vote all they want. In the case of King County, it makes no difference. It is taxation without representation, because it s the votes from the the city of Seattle that decides the council members to govern over the unincorporated areas.

And for the unincorporated areas, (despite pretty much everyone affected voicing their opposition) the council (last January) decided in their infinite wisdom, that 65% of the land for unincorporated property owners must be “Preserved”.

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